When a company falls on difficult times, one of the things that seems 
to happen is they reduce their staff and workers.  The remaining 
workers need to find ways to continue to do a good job or risk that 
their job would be eliminated as well.  Wall Street and the media 
normally congratulate the CEO for making this type of "tough decision", 
and his board of directors gives him a big bonus.
  
I feel our government should not be immune from similar risks.  It is 
therefore recommended that the following cuts be implemented by the 
next president.
  
Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to 218 
members and Senate members from 100 to 50, just one per state.  Also, 
reduce remaining staff by 25%.  Accomplish this over the next 8 years. 
(two steps / two elections) and, of course, this would require some redistricting.
  
Some yearly monetary gains include:
 
$44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for congress. (267 members X  $165,200 pay/member/yr.)
$97,175,000 for elimination of the above people's staff. (estimate  $1.3mil. In staff per each member  

of the House, and $3mil. In staff per each member of the Senate every year.)
$240,294 for the reduction in remaining staff by 25%.
$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork barrel earmarks each year. (For those 
members who's jobs are gone since current estimates for total 
government pork earmarks are at $15 Billion/yr.)

The remaining representatives would need to work smarter and would 
need to improve efficiencies.  It might even be in their best 
interests to work together for the good of our country?

We may also expect that smaller committees might lead to a more 
efficient resolution of issues as well.  It might even be easier to keep track of what your representative is doing.
After all, Congress has many more tools available to do their jobs than 
it had back in 1911 when the current number of representatives was 
established.  (computers, cell phones, jet airplanes - to name  a few.)

Note: Congress did not hesitate to jump on a train for home this week 
when it was a holiday, when the nation needed a real fix to the 
economic problems.  Also, we have 3 senators that have not been doing 
their jobs for the past 18+ months while on the campaign trail and 
still they all have been accepting full pay.  These facts alone support 
a reduction in the number of members of Congress.
 
Summary of opportunity:
 $44,108,400 reduction in Congress members.
 $282,100,000 for reduction of House members staff.
 $150,000,000 for reduction of Senate members staff.
 $59,675,000 for 25% reduction in staff for remaining House members.
 $37,500,000 for 25% reduction in staff for remaining Senate members.
 $7,500,000,000 reduction in pork added to bills by the reduced number of members of Congress.
 
Total estimated savings: $8,073,383,400 per year (And that's just for 
starters - when you factor in their retirement costs the number increases exponentially!)
 
Big business makes these types of cuts all the time.
  
If you are happy with how our government is right now, just delete this message.
If you are not happy, I assume you know what to do.